A Little Piece of Heaven

Photo: Jenny Schweber

This creamy little creation is a favorite during strawberry season  in Israel, and luckily, that is right now. So if you have strawberries laying around waiting to get some attention, here is what to do with them.

Strawberry Cream Cake

150 grams of butter, soft
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1/2 vanilla extract
2 cups of self rising flour
1/2 cup of milk

500 grams of strawberries
250 ml whipping cream
100 grams of dark chocolate

5-6 tbsp sugar water (water and sugar mixed together) 
/ or liquor of your own choice/ or orange juice

Instructions
Heat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 F). Beat together the soft butter and the sugar. Add the eggs one by one. Add the flour, vanilla extract and the milk. Beat until proper combined. Use a pan with a hole in the middle, spray it with canola oil so the cake won't stick. Put in the oven for about 30 minutes. Let cool and cut the cake in the middle. 

Beat the cream and add a pinch of sugar. Sprinkle the sugar water over the cake bottoms and add half the cream on the bottom part. Cut some of the strawberries in half and add on top of the cream. Then add the top cake (top down, flat side up). Add the remaining cream and put strawberries on top. Last but not least, melt the chocolate and put it on top of the strawberries with either a spoon or a fork.

Tip: If you want to make things more interesting, we sometimes add dulce de leche under the cream.

 © 2013 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserved

Lamb Kebab with Tahini Sauce

Photo: Jill Schweber

These kebabs are very popular in Israel and throughout the Middle East. They are full of flavor and can be made as a last minute dinner option. We chose to use lamb but ground beef also works well. This dish is more commonly served as a side but can also be a main served with rice, salad or why not a fresh pita. Don't forget our obsession with tahini, be generous!

Lamb Kebab

(Serves 4)

500 gram of minced meat (Lamb)
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
a handful of mint, chopped
a handful of parsley, chopped
a handful of coriander, chopped
a dash of cinnamon
a dash of oriental cumin
a dash of cardemom
salt&pepper

Tahini Sauce
raw tahini
water
lemon juice
salt
olive oil

Instructions
Mix all the ingredients for the patties and season with salt and pepper. Fry them until cook through. Mix all the ingredients for the tahini sauce until as think as you wish (if you want to know more about how to make tahini, check out our older post Tahini). 

Enjoy!  

 © 2013 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserved

Waitin' on summer

Cheeseburgers on my mind...

Summer is close,

BBQ's and BEACH!

Albondigas

Photo: Jill Schweber

Nothing better then a taste from home. These Albondigas (meat balls) are full of flavor yet simple to make. My mom always made these at home with warm corn tortillas and rice. We used avocado instead of rice as a side in order to keep things carb free. She also preferred to use ground turkey meat (which is leaner) but we kept it classic and cooked with ground beef from the local butcher. This tomato sauce even goes well poured over a sunny side up for savory breakfast. 

Albondigas

(Serves 4)

Tomato Sauce:

1 onion

7-8 tomatoes 

2 cloves of garlic

salt & pepper

1 tbsp chicken stock

1 whole green chili

Meat Balls:

1/2 onion

1/2 kg meat

handful of parsley

1 egg

1 tbsp bread crumbs

salt & pepper

Instructions

In a big sauce pan throw in the chopped onion, tomatoes and garlic and use a mixer to blend together. Chop the chile pepper in two and put it in together with the salt, pepper and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. 

In a big bowl mix all the ingredients for the meat balls together and form them into balls. Add all the meat balls into the simmering sauce. Let simmer for 25 minutes.

Serve with white rice, warm tortillas and or avocados.

Buen Provecho!

Jill

 © 2013 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserved

Zucchini Gratin

Photo: Jill Schweber

This is a great pasta alternative, instead of the old fashion pasta lasagna, this recipe has an interesting twist in form of zucchini (thanks mamma Birgitta). Not only healthy, also tasty, big like! 

Zucchini Gratin   

900 grams of zuccini , sliced 1 cm
250 grams of mushrooms, sliced
2 tbs of mushroom paste
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
oil for frying
100 grams of green olives, sliced
6 dl milk
1/2 cup + 150 grams of cheese, shredded
2-3 tbs of butter
2 tbs of flour
salt
white pepper
   
Instructions 
Heat the oven to 225 degrees C. Bring water to boil in a big pot and add salt. Put in the sliced zucchini and let them boil for about 10 minutes and set aside (without the water of course). Fry the onion for a few minutes, then add the garlic, the mushroom paste and the sliced mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes until the mushrooms are done. Season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a pot, add the flour and stir. Add the milk and bring to a boil. The sauce is soppose to get thick before it's ready. Add 1/2 cup of cheese and stir until completely melted. Season with salt and white pepper. Take out a tin and greese it with oil then add a layer of the zuccini slices, then the mushrooms and sprinkle over the olives, keep doing it in layers. Add the milk sauce on top and sprinkle over the rest of the cheese. Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese recives a nice color. Serve with a salad!   

 © 2013 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserved

Winter Orange Lentil Soup

Yes it is almost February and summer is just around the corner. Living in Tel Aviv it is literally around the corner. So we are going to be posting delicious healthy recipes to help you eat right and look great. 

Photo: Jill Schweber

There's nothing better then lentil soup made from scratch on a cold winter's night. This soup is healthy, delicious, vegetarian, and easy to make. 

Lentil Soup

oil for frying

1 onion

1 leek

1 fennel

3 carrots

half a butternut pumkin (or full if its small)

2 cups of lentils (orange lentils)

1 cup cilantro (finally chopped)

2-3 cm of fresh ginger, (chopped)

1 tsp of oriental cumin 

1tsp of paprika

chicken stock

salt&pepper

spring onion for topping

Instructions

Heat up some cooking oil in a big pot. Roughly chop onions and throw them in together with the ginger. Add the spices. Chop the leek, fennel and carrots and throw them in once the onions soften. Peel and chop the squash and put that in as well. Pour water in the pot (enough to cover vegetables). Simmer till the carrots are soft which takes approx. 20 minutes. Put in two cups of orange lentils. Season with salt, pepper and chicken stock. Simmer for another 20 minutes until lentils are soft. Throw in the cilantro and use a hand mixer to blend until smooth. Just before serving top it off with chopped spring onion. Enjoy! 

 © 2013 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserved

The Art of French Baking

If you, like me, are into French baking, you have to check out the book "The Art of French Baking". The book has all the classic recipes as well as some less famous but still delicious ones. It also looks mighty fine in my bookshelf, and that is more than enough for a cookbook junkie (right?).

Lovisa's Grandmother's Fabulous Cake

This cake is famous among my friends back home. Every time there is a dinner party, we make sure that Lovisa brings her Grandmother’s fabulous chocolate meringue cake. It might not look like very much, but it is, trust me on this one, the best. It's very easy to make and simply delicious. And if you are looking for a cake without flour, this is your lucky day!

Chocolate Meringue Cake 

Meringue
4 egg whites
1 cup of sugar
100 g almond flour

Chocolate filling
1/3 cup of water
1/3 cup of sugar
75 grams of butter
3 egg yolks
100 grams of dark chocolate, melted

Instructions
1. Turn on the oven at 175 degrees C.
2. Whip the egg whites with the sugar until firm. Fold in the almond flour.
3. Put the mix in a round tin with loose bottom and put in the oven for about 15 minutes.
4. Bring the water and sugar to boil, and let it boil until hazy. 
5. Add the butter, egg yolks and chocolate. Let it cool.
6. Add the chocolate on top of the meringue.
7. Whip cream and put on top and serve!

YUMMY!

 © 2013 Jill Schweber and Channa Waje, all rights reserved

A very Normal Dessert

I usally complicate everything, especially in cooking, BUT there are times when a good easy to make chocolate mousse does the job fine. This is a recipe for a fluffy mousse that tastes the way chocolate should - like chocolate.  
 
Chocolate Mousse
 
135 gram dark chocolate (70%)
33 gram sugar syrup
75 gram whipping cream
100 gram whipping cream
100 gram egg whites
42 gram sugar

1. Boil the sugar syrup and the cream (75g).
2. Melt the chocolate.
3. Poor the cream mix into the chocolate and mix it until it becomes thick.
4. In another bowl, whip the egg whites and a third of the sugar until fluffy like meringue. Then add the rest of the sugar and keep whipping until combined.
5. Whip the rest of the cream in a separate bowl.
6. Combine the chocolate with the whipped cream and then fold in the meringue carefully.
7. Put in nice portion cups and keep in fridge for at least 5 hours.

Tip: Serve it with whipped cream and chocolate shaves. Enjoy!

Cookbook Tip

  

Interested in Turkish cooking? Check out the bok Turkey by Leanne Kitchen. A lovely cookbook and insight to Tukish food and traditions. In the book you can find everything from simple dips to more advanced seafood and lamb recipes. It's a good book if you are looking to get more familiar with middle eastern cooking in general. 

Leeks with Lemon, Currants and Goat Cheese

Oriental food is often simple to make but with interesting flavors and colors. Here is a Turkish recipe with baby leek and currant. The currant is giving this dish a beautiful color and a sour, yet sweet taste. Leek is a very straight forward ingedient that is often forgotten. For this recipe we used current from the garden and self-grown leek. Life in Sweden can be fun (when it's not raining). 

Leeks with Lemon, Currants and Goat cheese

750 g baby leek or 4 large leeks (if large, sliced them)

125 ml olive oil

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 1/2 tsp caster sugar

finely grated zest from 1 lemon

35 g currants

50 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

375 ml chicken stock

2 thyme sprigs

125 g tulum cheese (goat cheese)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C degrees. 

2. Trim the leek 3-4 cm from the tops and clean them proper. Make sure that the root ends keep together or they will fall apart during cooking.

3. Place a single laying in a large rosting tin. 

4. Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about two minutes or until fragrant. Pour the oil mixture over the leeks in the tin. 

5. Scatter over the sugar, lemon and currants then pur over the lemon juice and stock; season with freshly ground black pepper. 

6. Cover the tin tighly with foil and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes (50 minutes if big leeks). 

7. Remove from the oven, drain the leek and set a side, reserve the cooking liquid. 

8. Transfer the cooking liquid to a saucepan and bring to boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or untilt he liquid has reduced and thinkened, the pour it over the leeks. 

9. Season with salt and cool completely. 

10. Before serving, scatter the crumbled tulum cheese and serve. 

Enjoy!

Pesto chicken with Feta Cheese Potatoes

When the weather in Sweden is good (two weeks a year) there is a lot to do. One of my favorit late summer activities is picking mushrooms in the woods around our house. The chanterelles in the picture is in fact handpicked by ME. Any edible mushroom is good to use for the recipe. Of course, there is nothing like the gold of our Scandinavian woods. Here is an easy to make summer BBQ recipe. I'll wish for nice weather. 

Recipe (6 people)

800 g of chicken, thight filés

Marinade

1 red chili, chopped

A handful of chives

A handful of basil

A handful of thyme

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of parmesan

1/4 cup of walnuts

1 dl of olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

Juice from 1 lime

Salt

1. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender. Put the chicken in a plastic bag together with the marinade for approx. 1 hour before bbq:ing.

Baked Potato with Feta Cheese
approx. 1 kg potatoes (new potatoes are recommended)
200 grams of feta cheese
Rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Slice the potatoes thinly. 
2. Grease a tin with olive oil and then make layers with potatoes and cheese. On the top put extra cheese and finish off with rosemary.
3. Sprinkle over olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Bake in the oven at 175 C degrees until it gets a nice golden color, approx. 30 min. 

Mushrooms
500 grams of chanterelles (or other mushrooms, what ever you get your hands on)
30 grams of butter
Salt 
A pinch of white pepper

1. Fry the mushrooms and add the butter as soon as the liquid is completely reduced. Season with salt and white pepper and fry until golden brown. 

Enjoy!

Tip: You can basically use any kind of green herbs, I used what I had at home. You should

do the same.

Wheat Ring with Vanilla Cream and Blueberries

 
In Sweden we eat rolled buns with a huge variation of fillings. I usally prefer the regualar cinnamon roll with cinnamon, sugar and butter. This is a more luxurious version of the cake with homemade vanilla cream and handpicked blueberries.  

Wheat Ring

150 grams of butter

1 tbs of cardamom

2 cups of milk

1/2 tsp of salt

1 dl of sugar

1 egg

12 grams of dried yeast
1 tbs baking powder

850-900 grams of flour

Filling:

2 1/2 cup of milk

1 vanilla bean

6 tbs of sugar

3 tbs of cornstarch 

8 egg yolks

50 grams of almond paste
200g of blueberries

Topping:
Sugar pearls (if you can't find sugar pearls, thinly sliced almonds also works well)
Egg (for brushing)

1. Melt the butter in a pot and add the milk, salt, sugar, cardamom and the egg. Let it become 42 C degrees (or 37 if using fresh yeast).

2. Add all the flour to a bowl and mix in the yeast. I prefer doing this stage in a mixer. Add the milk mixture while mixing on slow speed. 

3. Let the machine do the kneading for you on slow spead for approx. 8-10 min. Let the dough rise to dubble size in a warm place. It takes approx. 1 hour. 

4. In the meantime make the filling. Spit the vanilla bean and scrape out all it's seeds and add to the milk togther with the seperated bean. Bring the milk to boil. 

5. Let cool and take out the vanilla bean (you can strain it, just make sure to bring the seeds back). 

6. Mix in the sugar, cornstarch and the yolks and bring back to the heat and let simmer under constant stiring until it becomes really thick. Take it of the heat and let it cool. 

7. Take out the dough when ready and divide it to two parts (makes two).

8. With a rolling pin make a thin rectangle and add the almond paste and vanilla cream on top, then sprinkle over blueberries and if you like it sweet some extra sugar. Roll it and place in a baking tin.

9. Cut the dough with a scissor almost all the way through, with two centimeters in between to make a nice pattern.

10. If there is leftover vanilla cream squeeze it out in the gap between were you made the cut with the scissor to give that little extra touch. Mix an egg and brush it on the cake and sprinkle over the sugar pearls.

11. Heat up the oven to 200 C, in the meantime let the cakes rise a bit.

12. Place in the oven for 25 minutes, then cover it with something so it won't burn and let it be in the oven for another five minutes. Take it out and let cool completely.

Enjoy! 

Oriental Love (Manehe Yehuda)

 

 

Azura (Jerusalem)

I'm not a big fan of Jerusalem. I tend to keep to Tel Aviv BUT there is a place worth visiting in the city, the shuk Manehe Yehuda. In the shuk there is an Iraqui restaurant named Azura that serves well cooked food for a good price. 

While wating for a table walk around the shuk and get inspired. 

Location: Eshkol Street 4 (the Iraqui market)